April Whisky Auction Highlights 2024

Welcome to our April 2024 Whisky Auction highlights! There’s a delightful selection of old classics and modern masterpieces coming under our hammer this month with highlights from the likes of Macallan, Brora, Port Ellen, Highland Park and Convalmore, so we’d best get cracking.

Distillery Bottlings

We’ve got some wonderful official distillery bottlings both old and new coming up for grabs this month. 1980s and ‘90s favourites include the epic 1980s screwcap Macallan 10-year-old 100-Proof, Lagavulin 16-year-old White Horse and an early edition of Glenmorangie Port Wood, while classic turn-of-the-century bottlings include Bunnahabhain 1968 Auld Acquaintance, Bruichladdich 1966 36-year-old Legacy One, Talisker Distillery Exclusive 2004 Release and the very rare and desirable silver label Aberlour A’Bunadh 12-year-old.

Diageo & their predecessors are well-represented with some great bottlings from the 1990s and earlier. Highlights include the special staff-only limited edition Dufftown 20-year-old Centenary edition, a Rare Malts Selection Bladnoch 1977, 1970s Cardhu 12-year-old and the very seldom-seen Flora & Fauna Cask Strength edition of Aberfeldy 1980.

Miscellaneous official bottlings to look out for this month include a slew of recent Springbank and Macallan editions, the Glengoyne 1969 Autumn Release bottled at cask strength just after the turn of the century, a marvellous 1970s Hill Thompson official bottling of Longmorn 10-year-old and an early bottling of Glenfarclas 8-year-old 105 Proof from the same era.

Away from single malt whiskies, and there’s a very interesting 1940s bottle of Cameron Brig in excellent condition, lots of desirable Jack Daniels editions and a remarkable collection of over a hundred Johnnie Walker bottlings from the last thirty years or so, some of them very special limited editions.

Perhaps the most exciting official bottling this month, however, is the St. Magnus label Highland Park 1941, a very rare edition most likely from some point in the early 1960s. This fantastic HP was bottled at 80 imperial proof, equivalent to 45.7%, and will be hotly contested. 

Independent Bottlings

This month’s independent bottlings are a diverse range, as always. There’s a very big selection of First Cask bottlings in the sale, some of which we’ll be looking at later on in other sections of this blog, but preliminary highlights include a Dailuaine 1973 30-year-old, Balblair 1975 22-year-old and Mannochmore 1977 22-year-old.

Elsewhere, Gordon & MacPhail weigh in with their usual eclectic brilliance. Highlights from the Elgin bottler in this month’s auction include 1990s bottlings of 25-year-old Strathisla and Glen Grant, a dark sherried 1959 Glen Grant bottled at around 40 years old in 1999 and a wonderful old bottle of young Talisker 1972 bottled in the late 1970s at 100 UK Proof (57.1%).

Miscellaneous indie bottlings in this month’s whisky auction include a 20-year-old Glencadam 1985 from Douglas Laing’s Old & Rare Platinum Selection, youthful Royal Brackla from 1978-79 and Glen Scotia 1990 by Signatory Vintage and a rare young Scapa 1988 by Cadenhead’s.

Closed Distilleries

We’ve got some top class drams from the ranks of Scotland’s ghost distilleries this month. Beginning with the usual suspects, there’s some excellent Brora coming up for grabs including the official Rare Malts Edition Brora 1977 21-year-old bottled at 56.9% and indie editions including a pair of early 1980s vintage Broras by First Cask and Douglas Laing’s Platinum Edition Brora 1976 30-year-old bottled back in 2007 at a hefty 57.5%.

Staying with the icons and there’s also several very tempting Port Ellens to choose from, with highlights including the classic official Port Ellen 1978 24-year-old 2nd Release from Diageo’s Special Releases 2002, plus an 18-year-old Port Ellen 1976 by First Cask and several excellent Douglas Laing PEs including the single cask Port Ellen 1978 27-year-old, a single sherry cask bottled in 2006 for the Old & Rare Platinum Selection at its lip-smacking natural cask strength of 54.8%. 

Elsewhere there’s some superb old First Cask bottlings from the likes of North Port (Brechin), Convalmore, Dallas Dhu and Glen Mhor, while Cadenhead’s chip in with a Glen Albyn 1964 30-year-old bottled at 46.7%, a 17-year-old Glen Mhor 1975 and a very rare example of young Millburn, distilled in 1983 and bottled as an 11-year-old in 1994 at its natural strength of 59.7%.

Miscellaneous indie highlights from closed distilleries this month include Douglas Laing’s Platinum Selection bottlings of Glenesk (Hillside) 1971 32-year-old and Littlemill 1990 19-year-old, plus Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice bottlings of St. Magdalene 1966, Mosstowie 1979 and Rosebank 1979, Signatory’s Banff 1980 and Cadenhead’s cask strength Rosebank 1989 10-year-old, a bourbon hogshead bottled back in 1999 at a poky 58.6%.

Single Casks

Time once more for a quick look at the Single Casks coming up in this month’s whisky auction. Official single cask bottlings include the excellent Tomatin 1984 30-year-old, a single ex-bourbon cask bottled in 2014, plus a handful of bottles of a Springbank 1989 private cask and the famously magnificent Glen Garioch 1971 single cask bottled in the 1990s for much-missed wine retailer Oddbins.

Indie single casks are abundant in this month’s sale. As we mentioned earlier, the First Cask range is very well represented, with top picks including Caol Ila 1974, Benriach 1976, Macduff 1972 and Glenallachie 1981.

Douglas Laing, meanwhile, have got some great single casks up for grabs, with highlights from the excellent Old & Rare Platinum Selection including 23-year-old Clynelish 1983, a rum cask Glenrothes 1985 and sherry casks of Highland Park 1978 and Ben Nevis 1968 bottled at their natural cask strengths of 56.7% and 49.1% respectively.

Miscellaneous single casks to look out for this month include the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Ardmore 1977 25-year-old SMWS 66.14, Signatory’s cask strength sherry butt Glenlivet 1981 36-year-old and, for the American whiskey fans, some great single barrel bourbons and Tennessee whiskeys from Blanton’s, Evan Williams, Jack Daniel’s and Four Roses.

That’s it for this month - Good Luck, and Happy Bidding!